What has been happening on the farm this week? Transplanting, transplanting, transplanting. I calculated we transplanted 13,760 plants the last two and a half days. That’s the most we have ever transplanted in recorded history (mostly since we have never actually recorded the number before). This would have been a good year to have a transplanting machine other than Rebecca and Simon. But they held up well and didn’t breakdown the whole time. The combined length of all the rows we planted was 12,400 feet. That’s equivalent to over 41 football fields or 2.3 miles in length. All done on the ground on our knees. I think we all are thankful for today’s rain.
A few people have recently asked me, “Hey Chris, when do you think the season will be getting underway?” That is an easy question. I don’t know. But if I were to put on my speculation cap (it looks a lot like a thinking cap but far less precise) I figure around June 19th would be a good guess. That isn’t much later than last year and probably about the same as most years. “How can that be with this late spring? You’d think it would have to be a later start”. Sure, that’s what you’d think. But you’d be wrong. June 19th is a really good guess since, well, because June 12th is too early and June 26th would be too late. So it has to be June 19th.
“Ok, so let’s say it is June 19th. What will we be getting that week?” Another easy question. I don’t know. But putting on the conjecture cap I would surmise that it would be some type of spring vegetables. Most likely green onions and lettuce and bok choi and maybe radishes. But it is still over a month away so I may be wrong.
Another question I’ve been frequently asked is, “How is this late spring going to affect the season?” Such easy questions. I don’t know. But if I were to put on my pondering cap I figure it will look something like this:
Any fast growing spring crop will not be affected. These include lettuce, bok choi, beets and radishes. They will not be affected since they will be planted at the usual time for them to be planted.
Any cold season slow growing crop will be smaller than usual. These include leeks, Brussels sprouts, and celery. These will be smaller due to their later-than-usual transplant date; they won’t have as much time to grow.
Any warm season, slow growing crops will not be affected. These include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons and winter squash. Unless the winter extends to the end of May these plants will be transplanted at their usual time and therefore shouldn’t be affected.
Any fast growing, warm season crops shouldn’t be affected with one possible exception. Cucumbers and summer squash are examples here. Summer squash may be delayed since we sometimes are able to plant it early in May even though it is frost sensitive. Since it is fast growing if we plant it too soon and it dies in a late frost we can easily start over with a new planting. This year we won’t be planting it until late May.
Direct seeded early crops will be delayed and some likely less abundant. These include snap peas, snow peas and carrots. Our April planting of peas did not happen. So there will be one less planting of peas and therefore fewer peas. The carrots were planted later than usual so they will be ready later than usual, but the quantity should not be affected.
Transplanted, early cool season crops will be delayed with some less abundant. These include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and kohlrabi. We missed one planting of broccoli that usually goes in in April so there will be less broccoli overall, plus it will be delayed due to our starting with the second crop. Cauliflower, cabbage, and kohlrabi will just be delayed. The amount should be about the same (though we did cut back a bit on our cabbage planting this year).
Summer direct seeded crops should not be affected unless the winter continues into June. These include green beans and edamame.
Potatoes and garlic will be delayed but the quantity should not be impacted. The size of the garlic bulbs may be smaller than usual due to the shorter growing season.
Sweet corn will be delayed a bit since we aren’t sure yet when we it will be warm enough to get the transplants going.
So overall it won’t be a huge change from a usual year. Mainly the early shares will be smaller due to the missing early cool season crops (e.g. peas and broccoli). But the season will work out in the end.
A couple quick announcements:
The corn planting event reschedule for this weekend is postponed until we feel the weather will cooperate. Once the corn is seeded and growing in the greenhouse there is a small window of opportunity when we can transplant it out into the field — generally between 10 and 14 days from seeding. So we want to make sure the weather has warmed sufficiently to ensure we can transplant it when it is ready.
We still have a few more shares available. If you are planning on joining and haven’t yet please do so soon. I’ve sent out monthly reminders. If you haven’t received them check your spam folder. If you are not sure if you rejoined please contact me and I will let you know.
We are still taking orders for all our other shares (fruit, cheese, eggs, salmon, meat, coffee, winter, flower). These are great, tasty additions to the veggies and you’ll be helping out other small farms with your purchase.
Don’t forget about our Pinterest boards. As a reminder we and fellow members are pinning recipes to the different Fresh Earth Farms Pinterest boards for us to enjoy during the season. If you’d like to participate simply start following the farm’s Pinterest boards and we will invite you to pin to them. I appreciate all who have added recipes. I think this could be quite useful this summer!
Here is the usual reminder about the First Annual Fresh Earth Farms Fall Film Fest on September 7th. Mark your calendars and send in links to films you think others would enjoy. Requirements: must be family friendly/appropriate for children to view; no longer than six minutes.
Here is the usual reminder to send in your payment for your shares (unless you made payment arrangements).